The findings of this new study show that many Digital Privacy Organizations are struggling to define and secure their expanding cyber-attacks surfaces, which hamper risk management efforts.
What does the Study Says about Digital Privacy being Invaded?
The majority of organizations around the world are struggling with how much their attack surface has grown. It’s not just an issue for large companies, but also small ones and 73% worry that it will continue to expand without solutions soon enough. Over two-fifths (43%) of respondents went further, admitting the digital attack surface is “spiraling out of control.”
Visibility challenges appear to be the main reason organizations are struggling to manage and understand cyber risk in these environments.
Two-thirds of the respondents said that they have blind spots in their security, and cloud environments were considered among one with most opaque.
On average only 62% visibility into what lies on attack surface. The study also revealed that over half (54%) of global organizations don’t believe their method of assessing risk exposure is sophisticated enough. This is borne out in other findings:
- Only 45% have a completely well-defined way to assess risk exposure
- More than a third (35%) only review/update their exposure monthly or less frequently
- Just 23% review risk exposure daily
- Keeping up to date with the ever-changing attack surface is the top area organizations struggle with
Challenges Faced
These challenges are multiplied in global organizations. Two-thirds (65%) of respondents claimed that being an international enterprise that spans multiple jurisdictions makes managing the attack surface harder. Yet a quarter (24%) are still mapping their systems manually and 29% do so regionally—which can create further silos and visibility gaps.
